Politics

11th Military Coup

Posted on 2014-05-20 by Chakers in Thailand.

Thai politics is fraught with Asian culture and incomprehensible procedure and many will look upon the military intervention with disdain, yet again. But the sequence of events are, as I previously said, just inevitable.

Today's Military intervention started back in December 2013 when Yingluck refused to bow to pressure from all sides for political reform because of her gun to the head policy of coalition not PR. I have no personal axe because I have no right to vote but PR is not the way to achieve a democratically elected parliament because your vote is for who you'd like to have if you can't have the one you want. Ms. Yingluck seriously underestimated the weight behind the PDRC movement who I apparently sympathise with except they want more of it instead of a better system.

Almost everybody hates the first past the post forms a coalition system in Thailand because it is rife with false accounting, miscounting, bribery, illegal imprisonments, and countless other corruptions including murder to get more seats in parliament for one party or another so Political Reform is desperately needed, which means Yingluck was badly advised when she refused to consider reform before the next election. As a result red shirts were also joining the PDRC, which meant Yingluck was losing her core support. She held a vote of no confidence, which was a mess, so she threatened a snap election if the members didn't back her.

Because she called a snap election the Political Reform bill was put on hold and inevitably the PDRC had no choice but to ask the whole nation to boycot the election. Such was now the demand for change that voters had the best ever opportunity to show Yingluck their dissatisfaction without actually voting for the PTP, which would surely lead to the death penalty for any red shirt, and they stayed away in record numbers.

Ms. Yingluck won with a huge majority but with less than half the rural electorate voting and with hundreds of urban polling booths unable to open it was a record low turn out with a record low elected PM. In fact it was so bad she couldn't even form a majority Government. She had enough votes to form a coalition but her own party was in the minority because many of the seats remained empty. Governance was impossible and after being dragged into a courtroom yet again, and this time admonished, she quit, sort of. Because she hadn't actually opened Parliament or formed a sworn in Government, which means she wasn't PM, so she must have quit from politics I suppose.

The Phue Thai Party were out to get her from day one because they believe they are the only party fit to govern so within hours of her quitting they grabbed the opportunity and asked her to install her deputy who coincidentally, was Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, the leader of PTP and master yellow shirt who ironically had previously asked for the election result to be annulled by the High Court. But when he found himself in power he changed his mind about that and decided to stay on, or to put it another way, refused to quit when asked to do so by the Senate and despite the fact that Thailand's constitution required the election be re-run.

So PDRC leader, Suthep Taugsuban, asked his followers to occupy Government House, which seems to have attracted as many Yingluck Shinawatra supporters as PDRC and now it was Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan's turn to feel the sting of political insecurity.

Inevitably, the Army have had to step in to restore order and provide some security on the streets. And where was Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan while this was going on? Nowhere to be seen and spouting press release nonsense via a spokesman about having to enter into negotiations with the Generals. In Thailand you don't negotiate with the Generals, especially when they have the electorate's approval, they tell you how it is and what you will do.

Now will there be a proper election? I doubt it, this is how Thailand ended up with Abphisit Vejajjiva, and inevitably the Army will install another interim PM who will rule rather than serve and avoid at all costs his inevitable defeat at the polls.

And why will this happen. For the same reason as post Thaksin; because the Generals would dearly like to form a military junta but cannot without Western approval so they have to be seen to enforce democracy. Politics will never change in Thailand because political party's cannot even agree on what needs reforming. And that's why every seven years the Military have to oust the ruling PM whichever side they are on, and have done since 1932...

But Thailand is still the best place for a holiday so why let a heptannual political event get in the way?

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